


(your) love came in on time

by helenalives



Series: i hate accidents (except when we went from friends to this) [1]
Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Eddie Kaspbrak is a Mess, F/M, Fluff, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Gay Richie Tozier, Kinda, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Run-On Sentences, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting, Y'all know what I mean, eddie wears richie's jacket, fuck that clown ok i hate him, no beta we die like that sloppy bitch, no i will not be taking criticism for that, this is so soft uwu, well dont fuck the clown, yes richie dresses like an eboy in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:34:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21741541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helenalives/pseuds/helenalives
Summary: "wow, wow, wow! billy boy, you never told us your roommate was such a cutie," the third man spoke up, looking eddie up and down, flashing him a grin and a wink. the man was tall, holding a red cup as well, with thick rimmed glasses covering his eyes, brown curly hair, half of it tied up into a small bun, and the ugliest hawaiian shirt eddie had ever seen unbuttoned on top of a plain black long sleeved shirt. eddie could feel his face burning as he narrowed his eyes."i'm no--""beep beep, richie," bill cut him off and sighed. "even though eddie is adorable, none of us want to hear it. i'm sure eddie least of all.""eddie, huh? cute name for a cute boy!" the man-- richie-- broke into a smile that took up half his face, and eddie was taken aback at how different he looked when he smiled. he had twin dimples on either cheek, and eddie was suddenly struck withoh, he's kinda hot.oreddie's only just met richie, but when he has a panic attack at a party, richie is the only thing that helps.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon/Stanley Uris, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: i hate accidents (except when we went from friends to this) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567612
Comments: 19
Kudos: 253





	(your) love came in on time

**Author's Note:**

> i love writing these two sm!! 
> 
> title is from loving is easy by rex orange county uwu

it wasn't that eddie was nervous, per se. he just didn't really want to be here.

college parties were never part of the picture when he used to dream about moving out of derry. his mom had made sure of that. she hadn't wanted him to go to college at all. sonia's arguments were all some variation of "eddie-bear, why not stay home with me? i'm sure they do online classes at the community college! then i'd know you were safe! do you know how much bacteria there is in a residence hall? you'd have to share a shower with so many people! and you'd have a roommate! other people are dirty, eddie, what if you got sick?"

eddie got accepted into nyu with a full-ride scholarship halfway through his senior year, and booked a one way plane ticket to new york the very same day. sonia didn't know until the day he was to leave.

his mother had thrown such a fit that a neighbor had called the police. sheriff sullivan had arrived at the house to a one-sided screaming match, reminiscent of the time eddie had tried to come out as gay to her. not even two minutes after he arrived, he ended up restraining eddie's mother as she lunged for her son, shouting "dammit, just let the boy go, sonia!"

it was the best day of eddie's life. he had gotten to new york, safe and sound, and immediately muted his mother's number.

his roommate, bill, wasn't bad. he wasn't loud, and he kept his side of the room clean, even if he only changed his bed sheets every other week, compared to eddie's every three days or so. he shared eddie's love of all things marvel, and they had a class together, despite bill's major being creative writing and eddie's being business. despite eddie's anxiousness about having a roommate, they had become fast friends.

as eddie had gotten to know bill, he had gotten to know bill's boyfriends as well. stanley was quiet and reserved, but his stoic exterior seemed to melt away as soon as either of his boys spoke. mike was charming, and welcomed eddie with open arms. "any friend of bill's is a friend of ours!"

he supposes that mike's statement is what prompted him to come with bill to the party. truth be told, he didn't have many friends besides bill, mike, and stan. making friends was never exactly easy for him. his mother had made sure of that.

so, after a week of bill asking, he caved and agreed to go to the party that was being held at one of the frat houses on campus. bill said that mike and stan would be there, along with their other friends. that's how eddie found himself walking next to bill into a sea of people eddie didn't know, on a friday night in early november.

bill immediately spotted stan and mike, beelining straight for them. they were standing with two other boys and a girl eddie didn't recognize. he immediately felt his palms get sweaty, but he tried to reason with himself. _bill's nice, and so are mike and stan. their other friends will be nice too. stop freaking out over nothing._

as soon as they got to the group, bill slipped one of his hands into one of mike's, and kissed stan on the cheek. "hey, guys."

"bill! you made it!" the girl, all fiery red hair and dark lipstick, a half empty cup in her hand, leaned into one of the other men. she was wearing a black button up with red cherries printed all over it, and a black skirt paired with black boots and a huge smile. the man she was leaning on caught her around the waist. she giggled before looking at eddie. "is this your roommate?"

"yeah, thi--"

"oh, bill, he's adorable! it's so nice to meet you! these three," she gestured her cup in the direction of mike, bill, and stan, "have talked about you so much! i'm beverly, but you can call me bev." eddie smiled at her and waved a small hello.

the boy that was holding her spoke next. "i'm ben. nice to meet ya, man. bev's right, they do talk about you quite a bit! we've been eager to meet you." he sent a soft smile eddie's way, and then immediately turned his attention back to beverly, resting his chin on her head.

"wow, wow, wow! billy boy, you never told us your roommate was such a cutie," the third man spoke up, looking eddie up and down, flashing him a grin and a wink. the man was tall, holding a red cup as well, with thick rimmed glasses covering his eyes, brown curly hair, half of it tied up into a small bun, and the ugliest hawaiian shirt eddie had ever seen unbuttoned on top of a plain black long sleeved shirt. eddie could feel his face burning as he narrowed his eyes.

"i'm no--"

"beep beep, richie," bill cut him off and sighed. "even though eddie _is_ adorable, none of us want to hear it. i'm sure eddie least of all."

"eddie, huh? cute name for a cute boy!" the man-- richie-- broke into a smile that took up half his face, and eddie was taken aback at how different he looked when he smiled. he had twin dimples on either cheek, and eddie was suddenly struck with _oh, he's kinda hot._

he blinked, hard, pushing the thought to the back of his brain. "i'm not cute, man. cut it out."

"oh, eds, you so are! you're so tiny and you have these big doe eyes! s'cute." richie just beamed at him, pulling the nickname out of nowhere.

eddie frowned, feeling his face burn even hotter. "i'm not tiny, i'm five foot nine, which is the national average for men! and that's not my name. don't call me that."

beverly cooed from her place between ben and mike, swaying a bit as the alcohol made its way through her system. "i think it's cute! richie gives all of us nicknames constantly. i don't think he's called me beverly since we were, what? thirteen?"

richie's grin only grew bigger as beverly talked. _jesus, i'll be blinded if he keeps shining like that._ "probably earlier than that, my dear bevvy. now, eddie spaghetti, could i get you a drink? pick your poison!"

"wha-- eddie spaghetti?! that doesn't even make any sense!" eddie's frown deepened slightly, brows furrowing, before he sighed and replied, "and, uh, i don't care. surprise me. nothing too strong, though."

"so, extra strong? got it!" richie shot him another wink and disappeared into the crowd before eddie could say anything else, leaving him with the rest of the group, mouth slightly agape. he quickly snapped his mouth shut before turning to the others and asking, "is he always like that?"

"yes," everyone replied in unison. nobody seemed surprised at the joint response, as if they'd had to answer that question many times before.

mike spoke up. "richie can be a bit of a handful sometimes, especially when he's had alcohol. he's a big softie at heart, even if he is a trashmouth. he's super clingy, but in a good way. loyal! that's what it's called. he just wants people to like him, really. he really wants you to like him, i can tell." the others nodded in agreement.

before eddie could think about that statement, richie was back, this time holding an additional red cup.

"here. tozier family recipe! drink up, cutie!" he held out the cup to eddie, who cautiously sniffed it and shot richie a look before sipping it. it mostly just tasted like lemonade, but eddie could taste traces of strawberry vodka mixed in. "this is actually pretty good. thank you." eddie shot a shy smile at the taller boy, who beamed back at him.

"no problem, eds!"

"don't ca--"

"--call you that? too bad! all of my friends have nicknames, baby. you're one of us now, therefore you've gotta have a nickname!" richie smiled as if it were perfectly obvious.

eddie ignored the heat that threatened to curl in the pit of his stomach when richie called him baby, and instead shrugged it off. "whatever, man."

"you know what? i'll take it!" richie just kept beaming at him. eddie wondered if his cheeks hurt.

they stayed that way for a while, talking as a group, chatting about majors and hometowns and post-graduation plans. eventually, ben and bev left in search of more alcohol, and stan, bill, and mike all wandered out onto the dance floor. that left eddie and richie, and suddenly, eddie felt like he couldn't breathe.

"uh, i think i'm gonna step outside for a second." eddie glanced up at richie before chugging the rest of his drink and tossing the cup in a nearby trashcan. richie looked at the smaller man with an expression eddie couldn't place for a moment before that blinding grin made another appearance.

"aye aye, captain! lead the way!"

eddie blinked at him before realizing that richie wanted to go with him, and then abruptly turned away before he was blinded again. he started to make his way through the crowds, chest tightening with every step, before he felt two large hands settle on him, one on his shoulder and one on his waist, steering him to the front door. eddie's face was on fire as he tried to keep his mind off those hands and on steadying his breathing.

they managed to make it out the front door in less than thirty seconds, and then eddie collapsed on a bench on the thankfully empty porch, trying to breathe, and failing. richie crouched down next to him, concern etched all over his face,

"uh, eds? are you okay?" eddie managed to roll his eyes and cough out, "just peachy, richie."

"hey, here." richie took one of the smaller man's hands in his and placed it on his broad chest, forcing eddie to feel his steady breathing. "breathe with me, okay?"

eddie was sure his face was getting red again, but if richie noticed, he didn't comment. eddie coughed again and tried to focus, shutting his eyes, feeling richie, solid and warm, under his hand. slowly, his breaths began to even out, and when the tightness in his chest faded he tried to move his hand off of richie's chest. richie let him, but didn't let go, instead moving to cover eddie's hand where it had fallen beside them on the bench. eddie's stomach flipped.

"are you okay? what the hell was that?" richie was still crouched in front of him, big blue eyes peering into brown ones. he stood up suddenly before eddie could get any words out, all but shouting, "wait, hold on, i'll be right back!"

as richie disappeared back into the house, eddie leaned back on the bench, covering his face with his hands. his body felt hot all over, a mixture of the aftereffects of lack of oxygen and because richie had been so close for so long. richie was attractive, there was no denying that. eddie wanted to run his hands all over his broad shoulders, down his chest, feel his hands on his--

he was pulled out of his thoughts by footsteps approaching him. he opened his eyes to see richie, holding a black leather jacket. he sat up as richie approached, furrowing his brow when richie draped the jacket around his frame. eddie was hit with the scent of cigarettes and cheap aftershave, a mix that just seemed to fit richie.

the taller man sat down on the porch in front of eddie, worry still evident on his face. he reached out and took eddie's hand again, simply saying, "you were shivering," as an explanation for the jacket before taking a deep breath and looking up into eddie's eyes.

"okay, eds. what was that? are you okay?"

eddie nodded, trying his best not to melt into the jacket. his nerves were on fire as richie reached up to tuck a stray piece of hair behind eddie's ear. "i'm okay, yeah. uh, i'm sorry you had to see that." richie just looked at him, confused.

"why are you sorry? you had an… asthma attack?" he tried, nodding slightly when eddie let out a noise of affirmation. "what caused it? was it something i did?"

eddie's eyes widened a fraction. "no! no, no. yo-you actually helped a lot. so. thank you."

richie shot him a tight lipped smile, silently waiting for more of an explanation.

"when i was younger, my mom… well, have you ever heard of munchausen by proxy?"

"can't say i have, eds."

"well, long story short, it's a, uh, mental disorder that involves a parent, um. making up illnesses and faking injuries for their child. or causing real injuries, and then blaming it on other things." eddie watched as richie's eyes widened. he looked away, continuing. "my mom had that, i think. has that. she convinced a bunch of doctors that i was sick. she said i had asthma, but later i found out that it was just panic attacks. the inhaler i used had no medicine in it, just water." he swallowed, still not able to meet richie's eyes again. richie ran a thumb across the back of eddie's hand, encouraging him to continue.

"there were other things, too. she would take me to the er if i coughed even once. she once broke my arm by slamming it in a door and then threatened to kill me if i told anyone. she told everyone i broke it playing with my friends, and used it as an excuse to not let me out of the house." he met richie's eyes, startled by how sad he looked. eddie pulled the jacket tighter around him, looking back down at the hand covering his own.

"holy shit, eddie." richie's other hand came up and softly pressed against eddie's jaw, moving his head so he was looking at richie again. he squirmed a bit under the soft gaze. richie didn't move his hand. "you're so fucking brave, eds. that's bonkers. that's so fucked up. i'm so sorry you had to go through that."

eddie studied his face intently. chapped lips. pierced ears. sad eyes. he tried for a smile, but it turned into more of a grimace.

"did you just get overwhelmed in there?"

eddie nodded, leaning forward so his head was in the crook of richie's neck. he heard a sharp inhale from the taller man, and then he was being pulled down into richie's lap, strong arms circling him. "this is okay, right? richie murmured in his ear, and eddie was too tired to care, so he nodded slightly and buried his face further into richie's neck before answering the previous question.

"yeah. everything got too loud. too many people." richie hummed in response, one hand rubbing up and down eddie's back soothingly. eddie relaxed, all but melting into richie's lap, feeling safe as _richie richie richie_ flooded his senses. they stayed like that for a few minutes, listening to the music and chatter that poured from the house, breathing together still.

"hey, eds? don't fall asleep on me. i've still gotta get you home safe."

" 'm not," he mumbled, very much feeling like he could fall asleep.

richie just pressed a smile into his hair, and pulled eddie a bit closer for a moment, before saying, "thank you for trusting me."

eddie pulled his face up to meet richie's eyes. "thank you for helping me."

richie moved forward to press a small kiss to his hairline, and eddie could have combusted.

"anytime, cutie. now, what do you say i walk you home?"

"only if you text bill and let him know." eddie stood up slowly, peeling himself off richie before stretching and offering the jacket back. richie quickly shook his head; as he stood, eddie could hear multiple joints pop.

"no, my eddie spaghetti needs it more than i do." richie smiled at him as he shrugged and put his arms through the sleeves. he could have sworn he heard an adorable roll off richie's tongue, but he didn't dwell on it, instead blushing because richie called him _his._

the walk back to eddie's dorm was uneventful. richie grabbed eddie's hand halfway through the walk, and didn't let go until they were standing outside bill and eddie's door. eddie reluctantly let go of his hand to unlock the door, and pulled richie inside, shutting the door behind them before shutting his eyes and asking, point blank, "could you maybe stay? tonight? because i always have trouble sleeping after panic attacks, and i'm always cold, and you're really warm and soft and i got so sleepy earlier and it was because of you and--"

"eddie." richie cut him off, and just smiled warmly before nodding. "sure. i'll borrow something of bill's to sleep in."

eddie nodded once, turning away before richie could see how red his face was. they rummaged around in their respective drawers-- eddie in his, richie in bill's-- and then changed. richie climbed into eddie's bed as eddie brushed his teeth and then turned off the light.

eddie forgot how to breathe when he turned around.

the moonlight coming through the window just barely illuminated richie's features, but he had taken off his glasses and he looked so different. softer, somehow. _beautiful._

richie must have seen eddie stop, because he sat up quickly, softly asking, "eddie? are you okay?"

eddie smiled, suddenly feeling bold. "you're pretty." he padded over to the bed in socked feet, crawling into richie's lap again. "like, honestly, rich. you're the prettiest boy i've ever seen."

he didn't squirm under richie's gaze this time, instead basking in it, watching richie's adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed and then chuckled softly. "eddie, i think that title belongs to you."

a strong arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer. eddie leaned forward, pressing his forehead against richie's.

"eds, i really want to kiss you."

"what's stopping you?"

and then richie's mouth was on his, and his chapped lips felt so nice against eddie's soft ones, and eddie would be lying if he said he didn't moan into richie's mouth a bit. he brought both his hands to richie's face, tracing his cheekbones with his thumbs, and adjusted the angle a bit, and his head was swimming with _richie richie richie._

it was over all too soon. richie was the one who separated them, pulling eddie down so he was laying halfway on richie's chest. he connected their lips again briefly before pulling away to press a kiss to eddie's cheek and then forehead.

eddie moved closer, grabbing the fabric of richie's t-shirt in one hand and burying his face in richie's neck with a sigh. he felt richie smile above him and felt an arm pull him close while a large hand gently moved up and down his back, much like at the party.

"baby, i'd love to take you out sometime, if you'd let me."

eddie grinned into the collar of richie's shirt. "take me out to breakfast tomorrow?"

"it's a date."

and with that, they both drifted off, clinging to one another, feeling at peace.

**Author's Note:**

> two things:  
> \- one, i only listened to lovesong by charlie burg while writing this. 10/10 song, highly recommend. i might wright a songfic based on it, would anyone want to see that?  
> \- two, should i continue this series? let me know in the comments!!
> 
> luv u guys! <3
> 
> find me on tumblr at helenaliveth.tumblr.com


End file.
